Mia is one of the picky ones.......

[Craiga 01453]

She is eating small rats.

We offer about every 7 to 10 days. She usually tells us when she's hungry and goes "hunting". When everything in her enclosure has been re-arranged during the night it's usually when she's been out cruising.

It's under the lamp until we see her come out looking for it. It's usually about 2 or 3 min maybe.

Think i'll defrost room temp as i do now, but i'll put it in warm water right before giving it to her. I tried defrosting it in water, but that gives it a bloody nose sometimes, and she HATES when her food has a bloody nose.

So you think she'll ever catch up to be normal size, or always small? If she's stays small we are ok with it, she's adorable as is.

Ok, it sounds like you're doing everything the way I would have suggested. I heat prey in water too. I find the extra hydration can't hurt.

Some are just smaller than others, some grow slower than others. Without knowing more about her background (parents sizes, hatch weight, how soon they started eating as a hatchling, etc...). As long as she's maintaining a good body structure I wouldn't sweat it.

Try to do it on the same day for about a month and see if that changes things. I've noticed that by offering on a strict schedule, my BPs know when it "feeding day" and are already waiting for their dinner.

They all grow at their own pace. One of my girls eats like a pig for 7-9 months and then stops for 3-5. This has been going on for 3 years in a row. First year it happened I was freaking out but now I'm used to it. I still offer her food on the months she goes off feed and keep a log of her weight.

Perfect example of how different things work for different people and different animals. There really are no "one size fits all" answers.

I stopped feeding my BPs on a schedule because I was getting refusals. Since I started basically letting them "tell" me when they're hungry (by observing behavior at night) I haven't had any refusals and they both eat year round.

Silly little BPs.